No Matter What
by Lil Enchantress
Summary: May had always liked Drew since the day she first met him, but he had so many fangirls that she surely didn't stand a chance. It only started with a few skipped meals, she never thought it'd get this far... and who was this secret admirer? contestshipping
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey Contestshippers! I'm back with another story! My other contestshipping story (A Rose for You) was and still is my best story on this site. Even though it itself didn't get that many reviews anyways. So if you haven't read it yet and want to check it out, be my guest. Please enjoy the story!

Oh, right...I do not own Pokemon, or the characters in it. Please don't sue!

I do however own the poem that's in it and hopefully the idea of the general story.

----------------------------

_To my beautiful Beautifly,_

_Knowing how scatter brained you are, I'm sure you've forgotten that today is Valentine's Day. I have planned to tell you soon that I care for you, but knowing how weak I am, I'll probably just chicken out. To hold your interest until then, I wrote a poem telling all of the things I love about you. Take this poetry seriously, and keep on smiling. : )_

_I love the way you smile,  
The way the light hits your face,  
The scent of your hair,  
You're beautiful grace.  
You're eyes full of innocence,  
You're step full of pride,  
The way that you look  
Is nothing to hide._

_I've seen the way you look at yourself  
And how hard that you try,  
To be someone you aren't  
And tell many a lie.  
But I love the way that you walk,  
It's cute when you stumble.  
You're innocent eyes,  
Can be much too humble.  
_

_So stop this acting,  
I command you at once.  
To become the one I know you can be,  
Because no matter what,  
I love you._

_Sincerely,  
Secret Admirer_

May read over the letter for the hundreth time that day. She was happy, but annoyed at that the same time. Why couldn't the secret admirer of left his name. Suddenly May got a disturbed thought. What if it was really from a girl? Shocked for a minute, she shook her head at her ridiculous idea. Most likely not. May jumped off the tree branch she was sitting on and stumbled once she hit the ground.

"Oh great, just like poem," May thought out loud with a dumb look on her face. "But it's not cute."

"Who are you talking to?" a familiar voice spoke from behind her.

Turning, May saw a head full of light green hair and an arrogant face.

"Drew," she said coldly. "What do you want?"

"I was just walking by when a girl fell from the trees almost landed on me." he answered, flipping his hair.

"I wasn't falling, I was jumping!"

"What's the difference?"

"Gah! You make me so m-"

"Hey May, we're going to eat. Are you coming?" Ash called from down the street.

"I make you what?" Drew smirked as he started to walk away.

"You can't walk away from me!" May screamed.

"I just did. Later," Drew threw in her face. Holding up a hand to wave, he continued walking down the street in the opposite direction.

May childishly stuck her tongue out at the boy's back, clearly unhappy from talking with him. She didn't understand him at all. The last time they'd talked, she was sure they were getting along better. Guess not.

"Are you coming?" Ash called again. He was starving, and didn't want to waste any time getting to the resturant.

"Yeah," May shouted as she started sprinting down the road. Fighting with Drew had made her very hungry.

They decided to stop at the Pokemon Center to let Ash and May's Pokemon to recover from any battles they'd been in recently before they went to eat. May realised that her Skitty _had_ worked a lot lately, and her Munchlax hadn't been eating properly. Like that chair he ate the other day...but that's getting off topic.

"Can we go _now_?" Ash complained, his stomach objecting with a huge rumble as well.

"Yes, Ash. I think you can wait a few more minutes before we've reached the resturant," May retorted. He was really getting on her nerves today.

Finally getting a table after waiting for ten minutes (ten whole minutes of torture next to a hungry Ash), May slid into the booth next to her brother Max. They all ordered different types of ramen (they were at a noodle shop again), hers being a veggie lover dish. It's not that she really liked vegetables that much, it's just that she was on a secret diet. May was surpised that the person who wrote the love poem noticed the way she thought she was fat. Not even Max noticed that, and he was her brother. Either way, May knew she was gaining weight and didn't want some random guy telling her she couldn't stay on her diet. Suddenly there was a hand waving in front of her face, waking her from the deep concentration she was in.

"Hey May! Where's your brain at?" Max asked innocently, but slightly annoyed since she was ignoring him. "Me an' Brock have been trying to talk to you for the past few minutes."

"Oh, um, sorry," May apologised softly, kind of out of it still. "What did you want?"

"As we were saying," Max started up again without hesitation. "Were you planning on giving anyone chocolates today? It is Valentine's Day you know. Or did you forget?"

"I knew that!" May shot back. The fact really was that she had forgotten until she read it in that love letter. "But why would I tell you if I was giving anything to anyone?"

"Brock says that you'll give something to Drew," Max put in slyly, looking at May's face for a reaction.

May blushed just thinking of it.

"But I thought you might try to find your secret admirer to give him something."

"Are you crazy? I wouldn't give anything to Drew! That's just, weird." May exclaimed.

Max looked at her with a smirk on his face. Her late reaction meant that she was actually thinking about Drew. And she didn't even hear his comment about the secret admirer. May stood up and left the table. Irritated.

"I'm going for a walk!" she announced.

"But you haven't even eaten y-" Ash attempted to say, but she was already out the door within seconds.

May stomped out of the resturant, letting her feet carry her to her next destination. What did Max know anyways? Just then her stomach rumbled, reminding her she hadn't eaten yet. Of course. But who cares? If she skipped a meal, that's part of the diet, right? Who cares about what some stupid secret admirer wrote anyways.

The truth was, May really did like Drew. No, she loved him. But Drew was too cool for her, and they always fought. There was no way he could like a clumsy fool like her. Knowing all this, May decided to go on a diet even though she never seemed to have a problem with her self image before. Guys liked skinny girls, right? Maybe Drew would notice her then.

May sighed, walking down the path to nowhere. Tears started welling up in here eyes as she got a huge wave of depression. There was no way he would go out with her. She wasn't important enough. No, not in May's eyes. To May, she was a failure. She couldn't keep up with all the ribbons the Drew kept winning. And she wasn't as beautiful as some of Drew's fangirls either. Her brown hair was an unkept mess that never stayed straight down, and her eyes were the most common color of blue she knew. Why was the world so cruel?

May's stomach growled again, trying hard to get her attention. Feed me it says. May looked down to her abdominal area, sighing. She'd forgotten that she hadn't had breakfast either. Not to worry. She could handle a stupid thing as weak as hunger if it was to get Drew to notice her. And it's not like she'd never eat again, there was dinner that night, or breakfast the next morning.

"Love is a crazy thing," May said a loud to herself. "It makes you do crazy things."

"Do I detect someone talking to themself again?" sneered a boy, not far ahead from where she was. "You've really got to stop doing that, or they may send you away."

May didn't have to look at his face to know it was Drew. His voice was music to her ears, even if he was making fun of her. Keeping a strong front to the tears that wanted to leak down her cheeks, May put on a frown.

"You're so annoying," May lied. "Why don't you ever leave me alone?"

"Because you don't ignore me," he stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"All my fangirls just gawk at me and won't have an actual conversation. Even if you're angry, you still acknowledge what I'm saying."

"Don't bring up your stupid fangirls! I don't need reminding how popular you are and how not popular I am." May said, totally missing the sincerity in Drew's voice.

Drew just raised an eyebrow at her. May could be so weird sometimes. He almost started saying something, but he was cut off by a loud noise coming from the direction of May's stomach.

"You better be careful on mountains with a stomach that hungry," Drew commented. "It might start an avalanche."

May opened her mouth, ready for a sweet come back, but Drew cut her off by bringing up an offer.

"I tell you what. If you're that hungry, I'll take you out for a burger or something..."

May heart skipped a beat, and her vision got suddenly blurry. Was he asking her on a date?

"You know, so you don't disturb the town with the fog horn hidden in your stomach."

That was it! Her heart had completely shattered. But she couldn't show Drew that she was actually disappointed. He never meant anything from asking to buy her food anyways.

"I'm not hungry," she murmured.

"You say what?" he said, mocking her for the low and mumbled tone she was using.

"I said I'm not hungry!"

He looked at her with a pained expression. Why did _he_ look so hurt? She was the one that hadn't eaten since yesturday. And that really wasn't a great thing to remind her stomach, May thought as her stomach did a flip and grumbled even louder than the last time.

"You sure don't look 'not' hungry," he remarked, looking up towards the sky. It was as if he were trying to get his mind off something, but she didn't know what. "Well, if you're going to be 'fine' as you'd say in a situation like this, then I should be on my way."

Drew had only just turned to leave when he heard May say his name. He spun back around to find May in mid-action of falling towards the hard pavement below her. Rushing over, he reached her just barely by diving and sliding on his knees across the their gap in order to catch her head before it hit the ground. Once she was safely 'not falling', Drew let out the distressed breath he was holding.

"I told you to stop acting like someone I know you aren't. Didn't you know that you were perfect the way you were before?"

He looked down at May to find her unconcious. She must have fainted from the pain her stomach was giving her. Who would've thought a girl like May could get into a mess like this.

----------------------------

When May awoke, she was on a bed inside some sort of house or inn. Her stomach still ached, but nowhere else really did. She'd thought for sure that when she fainted that she would've bruised _something_. Sitting up, a wet cloth rolled down the front of her, landing on her lap. It must have been on her forehead to keep it cool. If she needed _that_, then that meant she had to have a fever. May sighed, knowing that she hadn't been treating herself completely as well as she should have. She just didn't see the point in it much lately. A click made her jump as she looked over at the door that started opening as a figure walked in.

Drew looked at May once he came into the bedroom, to find that she'd woken up. Her eyes were wide, but she seemed to calm down some when she realised it was just him. He brought over a new cloth and handed it to her while crouching next to the bed next to her, though it did nothing as it just sat in her hand as she stared at it.

"What happened?" May finally asked, breaking the silence.

"You fainted, I caught you and brought you to the closest house possible. You worked up a fever trying to kill me with comebacks while you already hadn't been been feeling well in the first place. It's because you haven't eaten today. You should have let me buy you that hamburger, you know."

"How would you know I haven't eaten?"

"I just do."

May just sat there quietly. She wasn't sure what to say because she was half ashamed because he found out and wasn't happy with it, and half shocked that he helped her anyways. So she just sat there waiting for him to speak, or even yell at her. Anything.

"Are you feeling well enough to get up? Walk maybe?" He asked hesitantly.

She nodded, slowly getting up from her place on the bed. He took her hand, helping her up to a full standing stance. Things just seemed to be getting more and more awkward lately. He led her (with their hands still clasped together) out through the living room and into the kitchen where May could see the front door beside an old refrigerator. Drew stopped and turned his head towards the old lady that was sitting in a rocker they'd just passed.

"Thanks Missus Teckins, for letting me bring my friend in when she was hurt. I'll stop by again sometime to visit."

"That's okay, son. You guys go out and enjoy yourselves now," the old lady chimed. When they walked out the door she muttered something about how cute young love was nowadays. It was so fortunate to get to see it bloom.

Outside with Drew and May, the sun was out but slowly falling behind the trees and hills.

"How long was I out for?" May casually asked.

"Maybe a few hours, not that long. But it was still frightening not knowing when you would wake up exactly."

May looked at Drew with wonder in her eyes. He didn't make much sense sometimes. They finally came to a stop in front of a fancy buffet resturant.

"What happened to getting a hamburger?" May pried.

"Knowing how scatter brained you are, I'm sure you've forgotten that today is Valentine's Day. No girl, no matter who they are, deserves to be alone on this day," he replied mysteriously.

May stood there for a moment, in thought. Where had she heard that before? It sounded so familiar. Before she could think much longer, Drew was dragging her into the place to get seated.

May was actually having a fun time, despite the fighting they'd been doing all that day. Drew made sure she ate the food, red meats and all. And she had to admit that every bite she took made her stomach feel a mite bit better. She even got Drew to laugh at one point there. But as all good things come to an end, the 'not date' was as well coming to a close. They'd left the resturant after paying the bill and were now walking down the road again. It had gotten darker since they went in, but the moon was full and the stars gave off a radiant natural light.

The small chatting about pokemon and different things ended as a quiet, but comfortable silence took over. They were headed in the direction of the park that was right outside of the Pokemon Center, whether they really were intending on going there or not. The cushiony floor of grass soon replaced the tar pavement they'd been walking on as a refreshing change in step. May bounced over to a tall Willow tree that was near the outer edge of the park, admiring the beauty of it.

Drew stayed back for a minute while watching May and the Willow as a breeze flew by, creating a beautiful scene. May's hair danced around face as the leaves flew off some of the branches and danced with her as well. She seemed to be having loads of fun compared to earlier that day. But when she turned to see him, her face changed to a look of question. Like, what was he staring at her for?

Drew smiled and started walking towards her, joining the dance with the wind as it seemed to be trapped under that one Willow. His hair was blowing wildly around, which caused May to snort out into laughter. His grin faultered, but he was glad at least that she was happy and carefree for the moment. He had made a promise to himself that he would do something today, and he was intending on keeping that promise. It was the perfect place to tell her, but he just hoped she felt the same way.

Picking a stray leaf out of May's hair, Drew began to speak in a placid voice that surprised even himself. "May, I have something I want to tell you."

"Yeah, I do too." May told him. "Or maybe it's more of a question, but I'm not sure at this point."

"Okay then, you first."

"Did you write me a valentine poem then sign it 'Secret Admirer'?" May asked bluntly.

"When'd you figure it out?"

"I remembered you saying something right before going into the resturant, but I couldn't figure out why it sounded so familiar. Then walking on the way to the park I put my hands in my pockets and felt the letter. I realised that was where I'd heard it before, but it didn't make sense. Not to me anyways." May explained.

"Well it should, because it's true." Drew said, glancing over at her face as he blushed. "I don't know why you think you have to be some skinny girl. You were perfect before you started loosing weight to begin with. And you started lying to your friends so they wouldn't bug you about eating so little. That's what doesn't make sense, May."

May took the information in, and carefully searched for the words to explain her situation.

"I did it for you."

"What?"

"You have so many fans that are prettier than I am. Plenty of beautiful girls to choose from. It didn't seem right that out of all them, you would choose me. So I tricked myself into believing you hated me for who I was. I suppose I never meant to, but it happened. And that just made me want you even more. I tried changing my appearance to catch your attention. I was starting to gain weight anyways, and it gave me an excuse to shed off the extra flab."

"You aren't fat or flabby in any way, May. And never were."

"But-"

"No buts," Drew said, leaning in closer to May.

"Why are you-"

Drew put a finger on her lips, silencing her. "Because no matter what, I love you." And he leaned in, brushing his lips against hers. He put his arms around her back, pulling her closer to him while she wrapped her own arms around his neck. Pulling back, they both took in a breath of air and awkwardly smiled.

May finally spoke out in a soothing voice, with the biggest smile she'd ever had on her face. "I love you too."

----------------------------

A/N: Please review and let me know what you thought of this! Keep in mind that it was three thirty in the morning by the time I finished this, and I'm half asleep as I type right now. I just wanted to get done with this so bad.

I also have an announcement to make...this was originally a oneshot idea, but I have a few ideas that could run this into a couple more chapters(hopefully). So it's your vote; keep it a oneshot and not mess with it in chance that the story gets worse, or continue the story in hopes that it could get better...and/or not caring that it could get worse instead. If anyone has an idea or two that they would like me to use, or just to give me an idea to work off of, throw it my way. If you really want me to continue, I'll probably need them. Now I've rambled on for enough. Talk to you all later!

-lil' enchantress  
--Naomi

ps: Review and vote please! I give hugs for reviews...


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Well would you look at that...I just updated. It must be a miracle! O.o Sorry for the short chapter...hope it doesn't suck that bad. I tried so hard too. It just seemed like a nice place to stop. Anyways...I don't own Pokemon...or Naruto. And I'd like to thank these people for reviewing (you guys are truly my best friends): **Waterbeautygoddess**, **PsYcHoPaThIcJoY**, **Mew3692002**, **contestshipping fan**, **Haruka Kinomiya**, **gamergirl8901**, **neogirl7900**, **animeromance92**, **Leah**, and **Nemo-chan**.

You guys rock my socks! Hugs to all of you! Lol...moving on...Please enjoy the chapter!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May couldn't believe it. She'd just had her first kiss, and with Drew nonetheless. This had the be the happiest, most romantic night of her life! The wind was still blowing under the willow, making the magical moment even more mysterious. Drew was smiling at her, combing his hands through her hair as she stood there in a daze of happiness. The only thing that ruined their beautiful moment was a laughter that was heard over in a corner of the park. Searching for the source of the laughter, May looked over her right shoulder spotting a younger kid with glasses.

"Hey May!" her little brother called from the road, right off the park. "We were looking everywhere for you!"

He ran down the street, Ash and Brock not far behind him.

"What'd you decide to go on a date with Drew while we were all stressed out looking for you?" Max taunted her, obvious to the fact that Drew could hear everything he said.

"Eh?" May stuttered, eyes wide. "I don't think I was on a date. We were just-"

"We were just taking a walk, and happened to run into each other here," Drew finished, saving her. "Right May?" He said, looking over to her.

"Hm? Oh, yeah," May sighed. She'd hoped she wouldn't of had to cover this up. She wanted them to be friendly with each other out in the open too. Guess that was too much to ask.

"Oh...so," Ash began. "So then that kiss was completely a friend to friend hello, right?"

May and Drew both stopped breathing at that sentence and their cheeks grew warm from embarressment. May didn't know whether Ash was being clever, or just plain dense. It was really hard to tell sometimes.

"Yeah," Brock added to the conversation, winking at them. "I'm sure that's what friends do, right?"

"Oh," May whispered. "You saw that, did you?"

"Every detail!" Max declared, grinning mischievously. "It was really sappy though. I got grossed out and had to close my eyes."

Drew blinked, his blush getting deeper by the minute. He wasn't exactly expecting a welcome party right after his first kiss. Although, he'd never even thought about his first kiss much until he met May. And everything with her was very unpredictable, so he should have really expected it. Looking over at her, he thought of how very worth the embarressment it was. Hopefully it was anyways. Her friends were kind of scary sometimes, and he wasn't sure exactly what they would do to him.

"So, did you guys get any Valentine's?" May quickly asked, trying to change the embarressing subject.

"Ash did!" Max blurted out, earning him a nice punch to the head from Ash.

"It was just from a friend of mine," Ash blushed.

"Yeah, your crush Misty," Brock countered.

"Shut up!" Ash shouted at Brock, now turning a deep tomato red. "Besides, that's better than you who didn't get anything!"

Brock huddled into a little ball, black surrounding him in gloom. That was the cold hard truth. And it hurt. Bad. Quickly recovering from his state of misery, Brock jumped up all of a sudden pointing satisfactorily at the little kid in front of him.

"Max didn't get any either!" he announced, quite proud of his late comeback.

Max just waved it off with a shrug.

"Who cares," Max replied. "Why would I care if I didn't get some stupid mushy Valentine?"

And Brock was defeated by a kid...

Drew looked around at the people in front of him. Was it only him, or was it weird that they were having this conversation in the middle of a park at night? He saw May glancing over at him with the same look of stupefied confusion. At least the subject wasn't them anymore. Before this next sentence anyways.

"May, I'm glad you made out with your boyfriend, but we really should get back to the Pokemon Center," Max coolly mentioned. "It closes at eleven you know, and it's ten forty-nine right now."

"He's not my boyfriend!" May reminded him, pouting at the same time.

"Sure, sure," Ash stated, earning a lump on the head by May. She clearly wasn't in that great of a mood anymore.

Drew sighed. This was all a bit confusing, watching them all fight like this. He'd never travelled with so many people before, so he didn't really know what it was like. May after all, was one of the first people to talk to him as a person, rather than a celebrity. It really felt great.

"We probably should get going before the center closes for the night," Drew told them. "I don't really want to be sleeping on the grass tonight."

With that, they all headed back to the building, fighting all the way. Brock was brooding of the Valentine's pasts, Ash and Max were teasing May, and Drew was getting a headache. When they got to the center, they heard a ka-chunk, and a click, which wasn't a good sign. They'd just lowered the door, and locked up for the night. Max checked his navigator, which read the time eleven o' five in glowing green numbers.

"Wow. We should've hurried back here," Max voiced everyone's thoughts. "That was so close too."

"That would be stating the obvious Max," May uttered, looking sort of annoyed. "Maybe we should head back to the park to camp out."

"That's be too weird in the middle of a city," Drew claimed, holding a hand up to his head. "Isn't there any other inn open right now?"

"There should be one by the road of restaurants," Brock put in. "They always have them there so travellers can get a meal then get to bed. Or something like that."

"Then let's...ah..hm...get going," Ash declared, yawning in mid sentence.

May rolled her eyes. First this morning he was complaining about food, now he was complaining about sleep. Won't he ever stop? She side glanced at Drew. It was so weird to be walking with him and her companions at the same time. It made her kind of warm inside, making her smile to herself.

"Onward march!" May laughed, playing along with Ash's stupid tired act. She wanted to have a little fun in that confusing night.

After a bit of walking, they finally approached the inns. They signed in as a group of five including Drew, and got the keys to their rooms (numbers 105 and 106) right away. May lead Max and Drew to room 106, leaving Ash with Brock for room 105. It seemed that Brock was the only one brave enough to sleep in the same room with Ash. Drew just kind of clung to May, not wanting to get stuck with her crazy friends alone, and Max was just nonchalant about the whole ordeal. He'd rather avoid the trouble rather than diving into it.

The three walked into their room that had two single beds and supposedly a cot in the closet somewhere. It was fair sized, with a bathroom off to the left side. It would definately do for a good night's rest. May walked over to the closet (which she soon found beside a brown, dusty spider plant), opening it and taking the cot out for her own use. She thought her brother and her crush would probably fight over who would not sleep on it, so she just saved them the trouble of a fight. Only one night wouldn't matter that much, right? Yeah.

She set it up next to the television, which she turned on with low volume careful not to disturb the other inn customers. Drew took the bed closest to the bathroom, while Max took the one more near the window. They both laid down, falling asleep as soon as their head hit their pillows. How lucky for them.

May stayed awake, half watching the Naruto show that was on the TV, and half thinking about everything that had gone on that day. It seemed like a week ago that that morning had taken place. Such a long time ago... To top it off, Drew kissed her! He was her secret admirer, and had told her that he loved her. It was unbelievable! She even told him that she loved him, and he wasn't in the least bit freaked out.

But even so, May didn't feel worthy of his love. The thoughts that haunted her mind earlier flew across her eyes again, making her shiver. Why would he pick her out of all his beautiful fangirls? She wasn't that great, and she knew it. Even if she wasn't especially fat, May got the feeling that maybe she couldn't stop her diet just yet. She could still stand to lose a few pounds after all. I mean, what more were they than just layers of fat? Drew would understand...she hoped.

With that thought in mind, May's thoughts drifted into dark and quiet dreamland. All the troubles of the world couldn't even disturb her now.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Gosh...I'm so sorry! This is such a short chapter and I feel really guilty about it. I just felt like writing _right_ now, but then I realised that I had to wake up tomorrow really early for something important...but I wanted to finish this chapter so bad. So...yeah. Hopefully the next chapter will be better and longer. Reviews will help persuade that... Click that perty button. Alright, catch ya all later! G-night!

-lil'enchantress  
--naomi

ps: I've been thinking about changing my name for a while now...so be on the look out for it. -sighs- I still have no clue what it'll be yet though. ...And while you're waiting for me to update, check out my author's reccomended list on my profile page. They're so awesome, they'll knock your socks off. Later!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I know you all hate me by now. I promised to write the next chapter before I went on vacation, and then again once I was on vacation. I'm sorry, I know excuses won't do anything, but I had writer's block, I had to pack, then I got sick. Once I got back school started right away, and then I got sick again. (ugh!) So right now I'm finally getting some of my long lost ideas back, and I'm seriously trying to work on all of my stories more frequently now. Again... sorry for such the long wait! Hope you like it!

I would like to thank all you reviewers very much. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't update at all. So thanks to **PsYcHoPaThIcJoY, contestshipping fan, romancerox, gamergirl8901, animeromance92, IndusLotus2001, Haruka Kinomiya, WaterfallRose, Angelic Avalon, Xx Shuuharu xX, **and** kid loonatic**! You guys are the sunshine in my dull colored world. :D And thanks to PsYcHoPaThIcJoY for reminding me that Brock can't actually wink since his eyes are always closed. I must of had a temporary brain collapse when I wrote that. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. If I did, there would be so many more adorable cat/kitten pokemon! (sorry, I just love them all!)

May could hear the shuffling of feet, even with her eyes closed. She breathed in a gasp of air and rolled over onto her side as to ignore the sound. Clearly she didn't want to get up just yet. There was a mumbling which she recognized as Max's voice, telling her to get up and out of bed. She took one of her pillows and threw it towards the direction she could hear his voice, and pulled the other one over her head. How dare he disturb her sleep! Not that it was beauty sleep... May knew well enough that it never worked that on her while she was sleeping. If anything, it made her look worse with bed head and morning breath.

May finally started getting comfortable again, with the soft blanket and pillow ofer her head. They were so warm, and just the way she liked it. But before long, she felt someone tugging on the her sheets, yanking them off harshly and exposing the cool air to her body. She sat up with wide eyes as she started to get goosebumps, glaring over at her little brother who was triumphantly holding her blanket in his arms.

"Max!" May yelled at him. "What was that for? I'm cold, give it back!"

May jumped, or rather she tripped, off the bed and started chasing her little brother who now had a scared look on his face. He threw the blanket at her, making her trip and pause while he made his escape out the hotel room's door. She fought with the blanket and stood up in victory, seeing the door shut with a click.

"Max, you will regret you did that!" May shouted at the door, frustrated with the world.

Soon, May heard another door open and looked over to see Drew coming out of the hotel room's bathroom. May stood in shock for a moment, trying to figure out why he was there.

_'That's right... he stayed with us last night because it got too late...'_

As May still stood and gaped at him, Drew smirked. He didn't mean it in a bad way, he just thought that her face was cute like that.

"What?" Drew finally said, still waiting for her to say something.

"Oh, um," May snapped out of her reservoir, shaking her head from side to side. "Nothing, I just forgot you were here. That's all."

_'Oh no! I just acted like a jerk in front of Drew! What will he say?'_

To her surprise, Drew didn't say anything about her behaviour. Instead, he picked up the blanket she'd been caught up in, and started folding it. Just like that. No crude remarks, no sneers.. he just started folding the blanket. May started gaping again when she realised that it wasn't nice to let one person do all the cleaning. And of course, gaping is rude, and she shouldn't have been doing that either. While Drew was still battling the blanket in a folding match, May walked over to the bed cot she had slept on and started folding it in half. She pushed it back into the closet, then closing the door behind it (a/n: so the cot's in the closet... and she's outside of the closet staring at the door. If I explained that correctly...). Dusting off her hands in success, she turned around to see Drew standing there with a smile on his face.

The room was _completely_ clean. May didn't know if whether it just took her that long to do that one simple task, or whether Drew was just a super fast cleaner, but she was surprised. And the look on Drew's face... he looked completely satisfied with her reaction. Taking her hand with his own, he began leading her to the door. Letting her put her shoes on first (and brushed her hair with the mini brush you just know is hiding in that pouch of hers), Drem lead them both out of the hotel room and down the hall.

"Where are we going?" May asked, still sort of stunned by the quickly cleaned room. "And where did you learn to clean like that?"

"We're going to breakfast. And my older sister (a/n: er... well.. I created a sister for him if he doesn't really have one. Her name is Ann. ) is the one that taught me how to clean. Only because she always made me do her chores," Drew laughed at his own statement. He didn't hate his sister, despite all the weird traits she had. She was nice enough to him... it's just that she didn't like chores.

"Oh."

May was a bit taken back by his first sentence. Even though she'd had dinner with him the evening before hand, it seemed weird to be eating again. She'd been an off and on anorexic for that past week, and it was hard to realise she needed food to work all her daily functions. Because of that though, she'd fainted in the middle of the street because she hadn't gotten enough to eat. Drew was the one who had saved her, and pulled her along to dinner that night. May still couldn't figure out how he knew that she hadn't been eating though. The only way he really could have was if he had been spying on her.

"Are you okay?" Drew asked her, concern crossed his face.

"Huh?" May asked in return. She hadn't realised that her cheeks had grown red from the thought that Drew actually might have been watching her like that. It made her heart race faster just thinking about it, but she just smiled, waving her hands in front of her face. "I'm fine, really!"

"Alright," Drew said as they walked into the cafeteria part of the hotel.

They spotted Ash, Brock (a/n: who's eyes were still closed, mind you...), and Max right away, all of them scarfing down the buffet of breakfast foods. As Drew and May got closer to them, you could see Max starting to choke on his food a little, and he ran to the other side of the buffet quite quickly. May still hadn't gotten her pay back for that morning, and he was in no hurry to be getting it right that moment. They both got plates, piled some food on (and Drew piled some more onto May's when he found out she only had one egg and a piece of bacon), then sat down at one of the available tables in the middle of the room.

The rest of May's friends joined them at the table and they all began to randomly strike up conversation. Drew kept watching May though, making sure she was really eating her food, only to be satisfied after she took the last bite of her buttered toasted. They excused themselves before the rest of them were done, because you could obviously tell that they wanted to finish off the rest of buffet before even thinking about leaving. May threw an excuse at them quickly about her spending another few hours with Drew before they started traveling again, and that she'd meet them back at the Pokemon Center around fours hours from the current time (er... let's just say that it's ten forty-five a.m. currently).

Finally when they were safely out on the street, away from her weird friends, Drew linked their hands together again. It was so casual, that May could've sworn they'd been doing this forever rather than only a few times. She still had to get used to the tingling in the arm on the side that was holding his hand though. It still seemed weird that he had picked her of all people to be with as a romantic companion.

"So," Drew let his feet wander by themselves as he drew most of his attention towards May. "Where do you want to go?"

"Well... I do want to go the the bookstore, but," May said, unsure of if he would think it was boring or not. "I-I haven't been there in forever."

"Then to the bookstore it is!" Drew flashed her a brilliant smile, then tugged on her hand, dragging her in the direction of the town's closest bookstore.

After a minute or so, they arrived to see a rather large building in front of them. May's eye's lit up just thinking about how many books could possibly be in this huge store. Smiling at Drew with that same happy, surprised face, she ran in the doors, leaving him walking in after her. Drew just sighed with this smile on his face. He was happy that she was happy.

Walking through the main row, Drew started looking between each isle to see which one May'd run into. He was almost the whole way to the back before he saw a red bandana bobbing back and forth from over the last shelf. Walking over to her, he noticed that she was in the manga isle. She was going back and forth from one series to the next, not sure which to pick up first. It seems like it really _has_ been a while since she's been in a book store and just enjoyed herself.

Finally, May had picked up a couple different books and started reading the backs to them and flipping through them briefly while Drew just stood there admiring her face and it's reactions to the pages. That was the one thing he could never get enough of. Her face was always changing, and she expressed so many emotions at one time, that he was always having to look at her face to see them all. He was starting to think it was becoming a habit to just keep looking at her face.

Pulling himself away from May's astounding beauty, he decided to look at some of the Shonen Jump manga that were on the shelf. He started flipping through the first one he touched, only to make a weird, confused face at it. Who would make a manga with a world that didn't have Pokemon? That would be like not having food, or a blue sky, or something! Slightly disappointed with the book, he put it back on the shelf with a sigh. Just as he was about to pick another one off the shelf, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, and almost an entire body weight get forced down on his back.

"Like, oh my gosh! You're Drew the Coordinater, aren't you? I've been wanting to meet you for so long!" the girl squealed into his ear as he turned around, only to be bombarded by another hug.

Worriedly, Drew glanced over at May for help. He could see from the corner of his eye that she'd dropped her books and was trying very hard not to punch the girl standing there right now. Though he would've been grateful for the attempt to save him and he was flattered by the fact that she cared that much for him, he didn't think violence would solve this problem so quickly. (a/n: That's right! Violence doesn't solve anything! ...heh... sorry, random fact...) Prying the estatic fangirl away from him, Drew held her at arm's length, trying to keep her away.

"Um, I don't know you," Drew admitted, still trying to keep an eye on May so she didn't beat the poor little fangirl up.

"Yeah, yeah, but I know you!" she said enthusiastically, hearts floating everywhere, and her head bobbing up and down from excitement.

May and Drew exchanged hopeless looks. That answer really solved nothing at all. Why were _they_ stuck with this basket case? Suddenly, the girl stopped bouncing, and realised what a fool she was making her self, her cheeks flaming red.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologised, bowing her head low. "I was just so excited to finally meet you, I just didn't realise what I was doing. Let's please start over! So... Hello, my name's Kuzuka, and I'm eleven. I'm your biggest fan if you didn't know that already!"

"Er, hi. My name's Drew, I'm ten. Nice to meet you?" Drew threw out lamely. He'd dealt with fangirls before, but never around May. He had no clue what to do, and what might offend her.

"Hi, my name's Ma-" May started to say before Kuzuka bumped her out of the way, linking Drew's arm with her own.

"Let's go out to eat, Drew!" Kuzuka said happily, ready to pull him out of the store.

May's head had a nuclear explosion right about then... smoke started coming out of her ears and her cheeks puffed out all pouty.

"Excuse me!" May said rudely, getting between both of them, making Kuzuka look her straight in the face. "Drew's with ME!"

Kuzuka looked bewildered for a moment, looking from May to Drew, Drew to May.

"Are you his girlfriend?" Kuzuka asked just as rudely back. "Because seriously, I can't see any reason why Drew would like an ugly girl like you. If you ever want to be in his league, you'd have to ask your fairy god mother to make yourself prettier! And I'm sure you still believe in her.. Drew would much rather go out with an older woman like myself. Right Drewkins?"

Drew was looking at the floor, his eyes were shadowed and he was giving off such a scary aura. When he looked up, he was giving Kuzuka a glare that could have killed.

"Don't _ever_ say that about May ever again!" he growled at her. It was eerie how quickly his attitude changed after she had started making fun of May. She'd learn never to make that mistake again.

Drew took May's hand, bumped past Kuzuka, and quickly lead them both out of the book store and down the next road. By the time they slowed down, they were both slightly panting from the sprint. Drew gave off this funny laugh, and grinned at May.

"Sorry we couldn't stay in there longer, but she didn't look like she was going to leave anytime soon," Drew gave May an awkward smile, but then his face turned serious again the next second. "Whatever you do, don't go thinking about what that girl said. She was just rude and arrogant. You should know I love you just the way you are."

May paused what she was doing to think about that. The truth was... she _had_ been thinking about what Kuzuka had said. _'I can't see any reason why Drew would like an ugly girl like you.' _The words cut through her heart like a spear.

"So... does that mean, that even if I'm ugly, you still love me?" May asked in a slight confusion, her eyes almost started to tear up.

"Eh?" Drew widened his eyes at her, but his arms found their way around her waist. "I-I didn't mean it like that! You know that... I mean, you're beautiful. Your eyes, your hair, your face, I love you! Remember? I love you, no matter what..."

Drew was biting his lip while May still stood there silently. He really didn't mean it like that, he'd just thought she was over the whole "I'm not good enough for you thing." Apparently she still needed a bit more healing in that area. That meant he had some serious work to do.

"Hey, why don't we go back to the Pokemon Center to see if there's any event or something we can go to. Okay?" Drew asked her hopefully.

May just nodded, not able to find her voice completely. Drew let go of his embrace on her and took her hand once again, leading them off to the big building near the center of town. When they got there, they were in for a suprise. Ash, Brock, and Max were all talking to this cute red headed girl by the counter. She looked oddly familiar, but May just couldn't pinpoint where she'd seen her before. Walking up to them, everyone started greeting them.

"Hey, you're back early!" Max announced happily. It seems that this girl had put him in a good mood, compared to this morning with May.

"Yeah," was all May could reply, earning herself a glance of worry from Drew.

"This is Misty by the way," Ash introduced his girl friend. Meaning his friend, that's a girl... "She used to travel with me and Brock back in Kanto. Of course you already know her because you met her and Togepi that one time. She's here on vacation, traveling around. She's going to travel with us for a little while now."

"Oh, yeah," May said, her eyes lighting up with the refreshed memory. "I remember you! And your Togepi evolved into a Togetic, right?"

"Yeah," Misty remembered that incident perfectly. It was the last time she ever saw her poor, little, baby Togepi. Suddenly she looked towards Ash. "Hey Ash... Did you happen to get a Valentine yesturday? I sent you one, but I don't know if the post guy lost it or not. Stupid mail men are always loosing things! That's why I usually rely on Pidgey Post."

"Oh, er... yeah, I got it," Ash mumbled, his cheeks glowing. You could tell he wasn't comfortable with talking about it around all of his other friends. Had he been alone with her on the other hand... he might have been maybe slightly less embarressed.

May's mind started to wander again. No one was paying attention to her anymore, and Drew had seemed to go off into his own 'lala' land. There were a few words that kept bothering her, and they wouldn't go away. It was what that Kuzuka girl had said again. _'I can't see any reason why Drew would like an ugly girl like you.' _That seemed like such a thing for her to say. She was skinny, and really beautiful unlike herself, who had the average brown hair and dull blue eyes. Kuzuka on the other hand, had flowing violet hair pulled into a high ponytail, and piercing dark blue eyes. May really did feel like she wasn't in Drew's league. Kuzuka was more there than she was. May had to find a way to look better. But how? She couldn't stop eating again to get thinner, a lot of people would notice, especially Drew.

There was only one other way that she could think of at that moment. But was she brave enough to make herself throw up all on her own? Kuzuka's words flashed through her brain once more, haunting her. _'I can't see any reason why Drew would like an ugly girl like you.' _That was all the motivation she needed. She wanted Drew to like her for the beauty on the outside too. If she were pretty, maybe the pesky fangirls would just lay off knowing that Drew already had a gorgeous girlfriend.

"Hey, I'm going to the bathroom, I haven't gone since I ate all that breakfast food," May used a lame excuse to get away. She wasn't lying, right? So she could tell her friends she wasn't lying with a straight face, since she really wasn't. That was only if, and if they found out though.

Pushing the door open to the Pokemon Center's public bathroom, she found the lock and clicked it shut. No one was in there, and May didn't plan on having anyone come in while she did this. May couldn't even figure out completely why she was doing it, she was so scared to do it, but she knew it was for Drew. He told her that she shouldn't let herself starve... but this was different, right? If she ate, then threw it up, it was different. She'd still get some of the food in, but only the things she needed to work her bodily functions. Still as scared as if death were approaching her, May took her shaking hand and reached into her mouth. After poking the back of her throat, she felt her gagging reflexes kick and and then a foul substance making it's way up her throat.

A/N: Okay, just so I'm not giving people false advice with May's thoughts here... being bulimia (where you throw up after you eat) doesn't keep the certain foods you think it will in your stomach. By the time you throw up, it's most likely that all of the fats you're trying to get rid of are already absorbed into your body, and it's the vitamins you need that you're throwing up. Plus, if you throw up more than just a few times, your stomach, mouth, and throat will start to get alcers(sp?) and bleed. Added to that, your teeth will start to rot from the stomach acid.

Just thought I ought to warn people because bulimia is a serious eating disorder. But just because May's doing it in my fanfiction, doesn't mean you should do it. It won't help anything! (I myself haven't had any kind of eating disorder, but I've been learning how awful it is in health class and everything.) And the finger touching the back of the throat thing... myth or not, I always get gagging reflexes when I touch too far back with my toothbrush on my tongue... but my friend has actually touched the back of her throat without any such thing as gagging. It really must depend on the person I guess.

Sorry again about taking so long to get this done. Sorry again for making such a long author's note at the end... but it's kind of needed with everything I have to say. First I'd like to announce how disappointed I am in the newest season of Pokemon; Battle Frontier. All the characters have new voice actors and it makes me upset... but really, what can you do? -sigh- On the bright side, you'll all be happy to know that I made a Drew/May picture and uploaded it to my deviantart account. It's a consolation prize for having to wait so long. (sorry again!) Here's the link for it...

http:// www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 39270754/

Just be sure to backspace those spaces in there before clicking 'go'. You aren't allowed to put actual links on fanfiction chapters (they'll delete them out if you do), so I put spaces in to keep them there. Hope you like the picture! I've got to go, school awaits...

Lil Enchantress

-Mimi-chan-


	4. Dear Readers and Reviewers

Dear Readers/Reviewers,

Okay! I'm officially writing the next chapter. In fact I'm already a ways into it, so it _should _be up by the next few days. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I just wanted to say sorry for the wait. I'm horrible, I know. Also… Since I took down the voting chapter, I noticed that all your 'chapter 4' reviews were still up. I was afraid that if I put the new chapter four up in it's place that a lot of you wouldn't be able to review… so I'm putting this 'filler' up to show you I'm at least working on it and so in case you _can't_ review this chapter again, I'm putting the real chapter four up in the chapter five slot. Okay? Please forgive my absence…

Lil Enchantress  
MIMI

**In the next chapter:** Things may not appear as they seem. Someone who was mean may have problems of their own. And when will someone notice May's growing problem? This chapter and the next will prove to be a turning point in the story. Turning to where… well you'll find out soon.


	5. Chapter 4, Kuzuka's Story

A/N: Hey there. Sorry about not being able to update in February like I'd said in my voting chapter. I know excuses are pointless for this, but there have been plenty of things going on here where I live. Death in the family, fevers, colds, etc. Ugh, there is too much to handle. I apologize for everything though! I just found that I can't write as well when under a lot of stress and I wanted to make a really great chapter for all of you. Sorry if it ended up you guys waiting longer than I planned…

But… I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all my reviewers. Who are: **NeDeN-CaNdY****theanimequeen****, contestshipping fan, ****Silent Slayer 2000****ReadNoWrite****Lil' Pup****Rachiebaby532****Wind Scythe****romancerox****AnimeGirl329****Angelic Avalon****kasumi18****, julie, ****ROSELIACOOL****, Jarkes, ****x-Baybee-Sparkz-x****NoCareChakara****trixy14****, ButteryGoodness, ****Opal of Hope****Arya MageFire****ryouIShotHOT****ContestshippingFan2314****, may&drew fan, **and** Lil-Priestess** Thanks so much all of you! I didn't expect this many reviewers… but I suppose I have been gone for a good while this time. Sorry!

disclaimer: Pokemon is not owned by me. End of story.

**No Matter What**  
Written by: Lil Enchantress

Chapter 4: Kuzuka's Story

Kuzuka brushed her long, light violet hair, a sad look on her face. Her indigo eyes seemed somewhat hollow as she pulled her hair up into a high pony tail, only to realize she'd forgotten her hair tie back on her bed stand. Sighing, she let her hair go, wavy and flowing down to her waist, so she could get up and find the little ribbon. She hated feeling this way. If she didn't have to worry about that _guy_ once she was out of her house, then she might be more cheerful, but things weren't like that. It was horrible having a stalker. She didn't even know what she did to get him to follow her, but he hadn't stopped since about a week ago. It was really freaking her out. And it was very tiring. Not only did she have to look behind her every few minutes to scare him away while she was outside, but she'd had to pull all curtains and blinds shut so he wouldn't peer into her house or bedroom window.

Hair now up, she looked into her mirror with a bleak smile. She didn't look very convinced of herself. If she wanted to get through this, then she had to be strong. What happened to the tough, loud girl she used to be? The one that would blurt out everything she thought, even if it was by accident and it hurt someone? Well it was hard to tell where she'd gone. How can you be comfortable and natural in your own hometown when you knew someone was out there waiting? Looking at your every move? It was unsettling, really.

There were things to do today though, so she could let it get her down. How was she ever going to get it done if she didn't start? Pulling herself out of the bathroom, Kuzuka picked out a random outfit that consisted of a dark blue belly shirt, a black skort (skirt with shorts underneath), netting that covered her right knee, and a pairing of boot-like tennis shoes. Before she left her bedroom, she attached her pokeball carrier (a strap almost like a belt or choker that you could attach pokeballs to) right above her left shoe.

Walking out to her kitchen, she spotted her mother's back cooking their late breakfast. It was sort of a tradition because both of them could sleep in pretty late so they'd always end up eating a lot later than normal families. Closing her eyes drearily, Kuzuka yawned before making her presence known to her mom.

"Good morning… what are you making today mom?" Kuzuka tried to look over her mother's shoulder, but her mother turned to her before she could catch a glimpse of what it might be.

"Oh, Kuzuka honey. Good morning. Are you alright? You look really exhausted…," her mother leaned in and hugged her tight, making it hard to breathe. Before she could say something she'd already pulled away. "Did you see that guy hanging around here again? I do hope he leaves you alone soon…"

"No mom, I haven't seen him. But there's nothing we can do really since we've already told the police. I know he's still there though. It makes me…" She couldn't quite find the words to describe it without making it seem the guy was a ghost because really, he almost was. He'd keep showing up to scare her, but then he was gone as soon as the police came or something serious was going on.

"Oh please don't say you're doing _that_ again? Dear, haven't you learned-"

"I'm not doing ANYTHING! Of course I'm not doing… _that_," Kuzuka flinched at the memory. She wouldn't ever do _that_ again. She wasn't stupid. Well, not completely anyway.

"Well that's good to hear. So you'll eat my omelets? I tried to make them the way you like them!" Her mom smiled back at her, grabbing two plates from the cupboard and setting them on the table behind them.

"Yes, I'll eat your omelets. They're delicious! Jeez…," Kuzuka smirked at her mother, but sat down in her seat by the table, waiting to be served.

A few dirty dishes later, Kuzuka rose from her seat and headed towards the door. "Bye mom! I'm going to get some of the groceries now, okay?"

"…Okay. Be careful sweetie. Don't let him near you, you hear?"

"Got it." And with a click of the door, Kuzuka was on her way.

She was half way there and everything was going smoothly. Each step down the paved road seemed to get heavier and heavier, though, from the tension. Sure it was fine now, but what if she turned a corner and he was there. What if he was already watching but she couldn't tell. It was stressful. Waiting…

And then… before she knew it, he _was_ there. Around a corner. He wasn't close, but she could feel his eyes weighing down on her. He'd spotted his prey once again, and the hunt was on.

Kuzuka gulped nervously. What was it her mom had been telling her? If you spotted him, find a place with lots of people, preferable people that would help if something happened. Or, go into a store, and talk to an adult. If need be, ask to call the police from the store and explain the situation. Man, this whole entire situation was so troublesome! Why could her life be normal? She wasn't even a girl worth stalking! Jeez…

Looking around, Kuzuka tried to find the closest store. There! Fasting walking into the town's bookstore, she tried to keep at a pace that make her appear like that was where she was headed to begin with. She knew it had to look obvious though. I mean, who fast walks into a book store anyway? (a/n: haha, actually I do… I get too antsy and almost run in so I can read the books…) At the moment, there were no employees at the front desk. Great, just her luck. Walking down a few of the isles, trying to find an employee and quick, she happened to see a bob of green hair. Kawaii! She always did love green hair… (but why was she thinking about hair color at a time so important as this?) Remembering where she was, she glanced at the door to find the guy walking into the store. Great… more bad luck. Maybe, just maybe this person with green hair would help her out? From the height of the person though, she doubted they were much older than she.

Running around the corner quickly, she lost her step and fell into the person (oh, it's a boy!) with green hair, swiftly wrapping her arms around him for support. Crap, only she would be a klutz and trip herself in an important situation like this. The boy however was kind of confused as to why she was hanging on to him, so he turned around. With face in view, she quickly recognized him as the really cool Co-ordinater she'd seen at a few pokemon contests. She was a secret fan of him, and thus also a small reason for her love of green hair. Maybe since he was so popular, the stalker wouldn't dare do anything even around him because it would surely make news around someone as star material as Drew. Surely… so without any more thinking, Kuzuka blurted…

"Like, oh my gosh! –insert sparkly eyes here- You're Drew the Co-ordinater, aren't you? I've wanted to meet you for so long!" Okay, so part of this was true. She just couldn't help but blurt whatever though now that she was here. And she was nervous. She heard the guy's footsteps getting closer so she dived towards Drew and hugged him (intentionally this time). Maybe if he gets a hint that she's taken… would that make the weird guy go away? Maybe?

There was a shuffling noise, and Kuzuka pulled away to see what it was (the same time as Drew tried to pry her off). A girl, with oddly fashioned light brown hair and sky blue eyes had dropped her books. She was… cute! And… May! Another Co-ordinater she'd seen at the pokemon contests. Wow, both of her idols here in the store at the same time! (if you can't tell already, Kuzuka wants to be a Co-ordinater too. She was a fanatic at watching it a while back though.) Suddenly she heard Drew speak up so she looked back over towards him.

"Um… I don't know you," he said, looking back and forth from May and herself uneasily. Hearing him speak though made her become very giddy. It was too much for her to be with both of the famous Co-ordinaters at the same time. Before she knew it, Kuzuka starting bouncing up and down happily, as if the dark aura that had been around her all morning had lifted.

"Yeah! Yeah! But I know you…!" And cut! You have officially made yourself look like a fool. Again. Just what will you do now? Kuzuka stopped bouncing in mid hop, coming to a complete stand still position. Her cheeks flamed red from embarrassment. She bowed her head quickly in apology. "Oh… I'm sorry. I was just so excited to finally meet you that I just didn't realize what I was doing. Let's start over! So… Hello, my name's Kuzuka, and I'm eleven. I'm your biggest fan if you didn't know that already!" –insert happy smile here-

She'd actually meant that she was a fan to _both_ of them, but it might have come out wrong since she was nervous. But now that she thought about it… why were both of them in the store in the same section? It was kind of odd… were they… were they going out? Doom reached Kuzuka's face as she felt mixed feelings. She wanted for so long to be with Drew and to actually meet him, but now here she was meeting him and she didn't even have a chance with him. May… was so cool, but… it wasn't fair! Was this jealousy she was feeling?

"Er, hi. My name's Drew, I'm ten. Nice to meet you?" It came out dull as if he didn't mean it. So… that was it then. She'd already screwed up her first meeting with Drew. How sad.

Kuzuka felt water fill up her eyes, but she put up a mask to make it not show the pain. In fact, she didn't even hear May mutter an attempted greeting when she walking in between them and linked her arm with Drew's.

"Let's go out to eat, Drew!" Kuzuka said happily, ready to pull him out of the store. _Please,_ she thought. _Please stay with me. That guy…_

"Excuse me!" May said rudely, getting between both of them, making Kuzuka look her straight in the face. "Drew's with ME!"

Kuzuka stood there bewildered for a moment, looking from May to Drew, Drew to May. So they _were_ together. She knew it… And now, she couldn't hold back those feelings. She wasn't quite sure what they were, but they were jealousy. For sure. She let herself go completely out of it. Not that she was ever good at holding her words back before. Some way or another she'd always managed to make people cry because she'd said too much when she hadn't meant to.

"Are you his girlfriend?" Kuzuka asked just as rudely back. "Because seriously, I can't see any reason why Drew would like an ugly girl like you. If you ever want to be in his league, you'd have to ask your fairy god mother to make yourself prettier! And I'm sure you still believe in her… Drew would much rather go out with an older woman like myself. Right Drewkins?"

Breathing in, Kuzuka found that air was short. It took deep breathes to recover from her comeback. And how mean it was… Thinking it back over, Kuzuka realized what she said and gaped. She didn't mean that. No, not at all… but she couldn't help it! Crap.

Drew seemed kind of scary now, as he looked at the floor. The green hair she loved was shadowing his eyes, leaving an aura sense around him. When he finally looked up at her, her eyes narrowed in surprise by how much hatred was in that one glare. So much impact…

"Don't _ever_ say that about May ever again!" he growled at her. It was eerie how quickly his attitude changed after she had started making fun of May. She'd learn never to make that mistake again.

Both of them stormed out of the bookstore, hand in hand, leaving her all alone again. No, not alone. Stuck in here with the stalker! Her eyes widened as she looked around her quickly. What had she been doing? Did she automatically think she was safe with those two being there? Well maybe she was, but now they aren't here. That was a huge problem. And where were all the stupid employees anyway?!

Sneaking out of the bookstore, Kuzuka made sure to walk swiftly and confidently out of the store. If she looked like she was weak, he would attack her. If she looked strong, maybe he would hold off for a little while longer. Luckily, she made it out of the store without bumping into him. Now she decided to go looking for Drew and May. That was a really horrible thing for her to say and she wanted to go apologize. And… maybe they would lend her the safety she was looking for? Catching a glimpse of light green hair and a red bandana walking down the road (towards what she thought would probably be the pokemon center), Kuzuka set down on a path after them. Who cared about the groceries anymore? Her mom would understand…

By the time she caught up with them, even in her jog, they'd already entered the Pokemon Center. Picking up her pace, she about ran the rest of the way. When she got in the door, she placed her hands on her knees and huffed. She guessed maybe she wasn't used to running like that in such a small town. She never really needed to until now.

Looking around, Kuzuka spotted Drew talking to three other boys and a red headed girl. His back was to her, so he didn't spot her right away. And… May… where was she? Her indigo eyes searched the room again, until she confirmed that she wasn't there. Breathing in deeply again, she tried to calm down. She was there now, in the pokemon center. Surely this was the safest place she could possibly be with all these people around. He wouldn't dare try anything even if he did go in.

Finally smiling at this accomplishment, Kuzuka stood up straight. Should she go apologize to Drew first, or find May to explain her mistakes? That she was a really big fan on her too and she was just getting jealous. Ooh, she wished she never said that. Stupid mouth! Stupid nervousness! Stupid stalker…

Walking past Drew, she decided it might be best to talk to May alone for now. Drew was probably still really mad at her for what happened in the bookstore and even if he forgave her after she apologized, it might give May the wrong idea when she came back. So… let's see if she can find May. Bathroom? It's worth a try to look… Down a hallway, Kuzuka found her way to her town's pokemon center's bathroom. Just a few more turns and… there!

A nervous feeling floated over her. She'd been really mean… so she wouldn't blame May or Drew if they didn't forgive her. Gulping, she reached for the bathroom's door handle. Just before she got to it though, it opened by itself and there stood a girl barely shorter than her with messy light brown hair. May! Suddenly her mouth was hanging open in surprise from finding her so fas, but. May didn't really notice anyone was standing there for a few moments before she finally came out of her little reservoir. It was then that the scowl appeared on her face and she looked up at the older girl angrily.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"Um… I wanted to say-," she got cut off by May, as she'd expected.

"I don't really want to hear it. Just, please get out of the way."

"Wait! I wanted to say I'm sorry!" Kuzuka pleaded, and grabbed May's wrist before she could walk away.

May paused for a moment, before replying softly. "Yeah right. You've already showed me what you think about me. …don't you think that I already knew I wasn't good enough for Drew? Huh?"

Kuzuka's eyes widened in surprise at May's response. There were tears starting to trickle down her cheeks as she tried to pull out of Kuzuka's grasp. She really had hurt her really bad…

"Hey, I'm sorry… I didn't mean it that way," Kuzuka felt really bad for what she'd said. She still couldn't believe she'd it to her two favorite idols. "I'm your fan too! Well… I love Drew, but I really admire how confident you always are! And you're so pretty. I wish I had beautiful light blue eyes and soft brown hair like yours. Instead I'm stuck with these dark puddles and incredibly hard to manage hair."

Breathing more evenly again, she smiled at May, letting go of her hand. May didn't move though. She stood there looking at Kuzuka more confused than ever. Kuzuka laughed sheepishly… hoping to ease the still tense atmosphere a bit.

"Um… you see," Kuzuka tried explaining it better. "Sometimes I say things I don't mean, or too much of my mind. And I was so nervous seeing both of you at the same time that my heart almost exploded. I don't actually think you're ugly… but I guess I was just jealous because I really like Drew too… and… I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, you guys are really cute together. I just… sorry."

"Oh…," May didn't seem to know what to say. She was almost speechless. It was true that people messed up sometimes. Being one herself, she definitely knew what it was like. But… Kuzuka had been so mean and said such mean things. Which was why she was confused why she was apologizing. Was there something more to this? "So what do you want?"

"Huh? Nothing… I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I really took it way too far this time. I'm so sorry!" Kuzuka placed her hand out in front of May, hoping they'd shake on it. There was _one_ other thing… but now that she'd gotten this far, she was afraid to take it any further. May reached out slightly… barely grasping her hand and shook it. Looking up to Kuzuka, she smiled very very slightly.

"You're forgiven, I guess…," She turned to go back to Drew, but Kuzuka suddenly shouted out to her again.

"Wait! Do you think I could stick around for a little bit? You see, there's this guy and-," Kuzuka's eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth. There she goes again, saying more than she needs. All she was going to propose was that she stays around them for a bit, but then she almost went and gave away the whole stalker bit. They wouldn't believe her if she'd said that…

"This guy that what?" May asked curiously. This Kuzuka was a really strange girl… but it sounded like something was wrong here. Kuzuka's cheeks blushed and she turned in the other direction.

"Nothing!"

"You wouldn't have said it if it was nothing," May pushed her along. "What was it?"

Kuzuka turned back to May and looked her in the eyes almost pleading for her not to laugh. "Well there's this guy. He's been following me for the past week and keeps hanging around outside my house when I'm at home. I think he's a stalker… And when I was in the book store and saw you two there, I had been trying to get away from him."

Realization took place on May's face as she pieced everything together from what Kuzuka had said. It all made sense, sort of. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know… but he was in the book store. He probably followed me."

"Eh, well I don't really know what to do… maybe we should go ask Drew. I could explain everything to him…"

Without any more talking, May walked down the hallway towards the main room and Kuzuka followed reluctantly afterwards. Was this going to work? Could they figure something out? It seemed really weird that May was going to help her just like that after she had just apologized. She really was such a cool co-ordinater. Kuzuka smiled, hoping that maybe she'd made a new friend just now.

May got to the main room first, walking towards Drew. Drew spotted her almost right away, a sparkle in his eye. He smiled and they hugged, May blushing really red.

"Hey May, you'll never guess what I'm going to suggest," he smiled at her with his usual playful smirk.

"Oh, what?" she seemed a little nervous. Kuzuka was walking really slow and hadn't come around the corner yet, but she had to bring it up to him. Even if she'd been a jerk, she needed help right now and that was what mattered.

"How would you like to come traveling with me to the Johto region?"

Her eyes got really big at this. This was so sudden… what about Max? Her eyes must have wandered over to him because Drew started talking again.

"Misty's going to be traveling with Ash and Brock again, so she said that she could help take care of your brother until they pass by your hometown again if that's what you're worried about. We'd leave in a few days because there just happens to be a boat port near here that's heading that way. What do you think?"

"Ah!" May suddenly got an idea and blurted it out to Drew. "Could Kuzuka come with us?" Yes… a way to get Kuzuka away from here. Surely she'd be safe on shores that are so far away…

"Kuzuka…?" Drew looked at her funny. "That purple haired girl? The one that was really mean to you?"

"Yeah… well, we were talking and," May looked behind her and saw Kuzuka finally coming towards them. She was inching like a snail though, rather nervously. "She's actually not _that_ bad of a person. There have been things going on right now that have gotten her a bit shaken up. I think she needs to get away from here to loosen up…"

"You can't just forgive her so easily, May. Did you forget what she said to you already?"

"Well… no, but she really needs our help right now!" May was getting desperate. She didn't even know why she of all people was helping this girl, but she needed it.

"Tell me what could possibly be so bad that she needs our help after what she said to you?" he scowled at May, finding it impossible for her to forget so easily the horrible things Kuzuka had said.

"She's got a stalker!" May covered her mouth quickly and Kuzuka stood quietly by the side. Drew and the rest of her friends stared at May in awe.

A/N: Well… I'm sorry if this is a disappointing chapter. I actually like Kuzuka as a character, but about half way through I think I lost all the characters to OOCness. Yes, no? At the end there, where May shouts Kuzuka's secret, it's basically only loud enough for 7 of them to hear (misty, ash, brock, max, drew, kuzuka, and may). And sorry that there wasn't anything on May's problem this chapter. It was, but only briefly. When she was standing in the bathroom door in a daze, she was really thinking about what she had just done. The next chapter will definitely clear up all of Kuzuka's problems and you'll see how the story sort of changes its entire plot (in a way).

As an apology, the following three pictures are for all of you! Please remember to omit the spaces. :)

http:// www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 51603976/

http:// www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 51838373/

http:// www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 51846866/


End file.
